President Donald Trump’s announcement today that the US will impose major new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports didn’t come as a huge surprise, since the Commerce Department’s recent 232 report concluded that those imports posed a threat to national security. But the move to slap across-the-board tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminum imports respectively still marks Trump’s first big step towards fulfilling the protectionist agenda he championed in the 2016 election campaign.
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